Here’s some disappointing news: it has been reported by Bloody Disgusting that tonight’s episode of The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs will be the series finale. This news has been confirmed on Joe Bob’s own Patreon account, The Lost Drive-in. An epic era is coming to an end… but it’s not all doom and gloom, because Shudder will still be airing four The Last Drive-in specials throughout the rest of the year. Tonight is just the end of the non-special show.
Joe Bob Briggs
Joe Bob Briggs made his debut as a drive-in movie critic in the early ’80s and soon earned a job hosting movies on The Movie Channel, where Joe Bob’s Drive-in Theater ran from 1986 to 1996. That was followed by the TNT series MonsterVision, which he hosted from 1996 to 2000.
That was followed by an eighteen-year stretch of darkness, but then he made his triumphant return with The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder. The Shudder era began with a 13-film marathon on July 13, 2018 – an event that Joe Bob thought might be his last rodeo. But so many people tuned in for that marathon, it crashed Shudder’s servers and convinced them to give him an on-going series, mixed with holiday specials.
While the early seasons of The Last Drive-in were weekly double features, just like the MonsterVision days, there has been some tinkering with the format recently. Season 6 brought us one movie every other week, and season 7 has brought us monthly double features. The final episode airs tonight, March 6, at 9pm ET on Shudder and AMC+, and will be available on demand beginning Sunday, March 8.
On The Last Drive-In, the world’s foremost drive-in movie critic hosts eclectic horror movies, talking about their merits, histories and significance to genre cinema.
The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs is produced by Matt Manjourides and Justin Martell and directed by Austin Jennings. Joe Bob is joined on every episode by Diana Prince as Darcy the Mail Girl.
Specials
Courtney Thomasma, EVP, Linear and Streaming Products, provided the following statement: “Joe Bob Briggs has been a Shudder staple since 2018, when his original 13-movie marathon ‘broke the internet.’ Since then, he and Darcy the Mail Girl have continued to delight Shudder fans with double features and seasonal specials tailored to horror buffs and cinephiles alike, always offering plenty of surprises. We look forward to sharing these four new specials with Drive-In Mutants everywhere.“
The first of four post-series specials will be Joe Bob’s Wicked Witchy Wingding, which is coming our way April 24th at 9pm ET. The double feature of occult flicks continues Briggs’ eternal campaign to establish Walpurgisnacht as an American horror holiday.
A reason for the end of the series was not given. For now, Darcy has just commented, “We are only allowed to say so much right now (there are even certain words/phrases we aren’t permitted to use), but I will answer any questions you have to the best of my ability. The #1 question is about JB’s health, so let me assure you he’s doing fine…Spry AF, even!!” Future plans have not been revealed, but she has confirmed that Joe Bob will continue doing his live show tours and Jamboree events.
Ending The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs seems like a bad move for Shudder and their subscriber numbers, but we’ll see how it goes for them. For now, I’m just grateful that we’ve gotten eight years of the show.
Are you sad to hear that The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs is coming to an end? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
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